Hidden skeletons found in Egyptian pyramids reveal surprising historical twist: Counters the traditional narrative

“Pyramid schemes” aren’t just for the wealthy.Archaeologists have long theorized that Egyptian pyramid tombs were reserved for the elite.However, analysis of skeletons belonging to “extremely active” people might prove that they were dead wrong — and that poor physical laborers could’ve been interred there as well.These findings, which were published in the Journal Of Anthropological Anthropology, could reshape how we view these ancient mausoleums.“I think we have assumed for far too long that pyramids were just for the rich,” declared study author Sara Schrader, an archaeology professor at the University Of Leiden, Netherlands, according to New Scientist.She worked for over a decade at the Tombos excavation site in South Sudan where archaeologists discovered at least five mud-brick pyramids containing pottery along with the aforementioned human remains.

This region was under Egyptian control 3,500 years ago when the civilization was at its zenith, but by this time, their aristocracy no longer favored pyramids as postmortem quarters — even though the Egyptian nobles still preferred them.Schrader and her colleagues analyzed the remains at each pyramid, specifically focusing on subtle marks on the bones where muscles, tendons and ligaments were once attached so they could determine the level of physical activity.

The team noted that some remains belong to people who had done very little physical activity during their lifetimes while others had been very active.From this, the team deduced that “pyramid tombs, once thought to be the final resting place of the most elite, may have also included low-status high-labor staff,” per the study.They were operating under the theory that the low-activity individuals must have lived luxury while those with signs of wear and tear had a grueling life of labor, the Daily Mail reported.“If these hard-working individuals are indeed of lower socioeconomic status, this counters the traditional narrative that t...